


Not Quite The Breakfast Club

by AshWinterGray



Series: Steve Harrington Needs Friends [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Basket Ball, Bullying, Concussions, Detention, Dying Steve Harrington, F/M, Found Family, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, He gets it, High School Fun, High School Teachers, Hurt Steve Harrington, Slight Delerium, So I Give Him Friends, Steve Harrington Needs Friends, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Steve Talks Too Much, Talking, The Gate Opens Eventually, The Nail Bat, becoming friends, demodogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-27 02:26:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18294974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshWinterGray/pseuds/AshWinterGray
Summary: No one wants to spend their Saturday in detentions. Especially with a concussion. But with little to no choice, Steve ends up at the school with five other people in detention, one librarian, and one media aid. It's quite the interesting experience, and they bond over stupid things and terrifying nightmares. One thing they agree on, they are not The Breakfast Club.





	1. Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve has a concussion and detention. A great mix. Really. But now he has to share it with six other people, and he just wants to lay down and sleep. But he's pretty sure that's a bad idea. And why won't these people stop talking?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, not sure how many people will see this, but there is a problem. Some of the stories here on AO3 are not showing up under their tags andcategories. Like, my friend harringrovecryptic updated on April 4th and their story did not show up in the any of the tags.
> 
> Check your bookmarks, and see what happens guys.

            Detention was not how Steve wanted to spend his Saturday, but he didn’t really have a choice. And it wasn’t like there was much more he would be able to do on Saturday anyways. So he pulled up to the school early that morning, head still pounding, and he walked into the school. It wasn’t like he had actually done something to get a detention either. He had refused to go to the hospital during the aftermath of that night, and that had led to him throwing up in his English class. The problem was, his English teacher hated him, and she had claimed Steve was “disrupting class”. Steve hadn’t even been able to make a counter argument.

            “Steve Harrington?” a voice asked, clearly confused.

            Behind Steve was the librarian, Mrs. Whittman, and another student. Both were carrying books. It struck Steve that he couldn’t remember what the girl’s name was, but he knew she was the media aid. That would explain all the books.

            “Steve, you look awful,” Mrs. Whittman breathed as she took in Steve’s face. “What are you doing here?”

            “Did Mrs. Parker seriously give you detention for throwing up in class?” the girl furrowed her brow. “I know she didn’t like you, but that’s a new low, even for her.”

            “You should go home Steve,” Mrs. Whittman offered. “I can talk to the principal.”

            Steve shook his head, instantly regretting everything. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. Might as well get this over with.”

            Mrs. Whittman didn’t look convinced, but she followed Steve to the library where detention was to be held. The Principle was already waiting. There were already five other people in the room, and Steve slumped his way over to one of the empty tables. He was the wash-out king of Hawkins, so he refused to meet anyone’s gaze. As the girl set the books down on the desk, Mrs. Whittman pulled the Principle into her office.

            They waited in silence for at least ten minutes before the principle came out fuming and Mrs. Whittman came out with a glare. Everyone sort of shifted in their seats.

            “Well,” the Principle stated. “It appears that there has been a mix-up, with a few things. So, Mrs. Whittman will be running today’s detention. You all best behave, or you will be getting more detention.”

            With that said, the Principle left the room with a bang of the door. Mrs. Whittman scoffed, and she turned to the six kids with detention.

            “Well, that was interesting,” she hummed. “I’m not quite sure what the Principle had planned, but we are just going to relax until this is over.” She then turned to the seventh student. “Avery, could you please put the books in my office. I’ll handle them from here.”

            Avery, that was her name. Avery Walsh was a book-worm and usually shy. They had English together, and she had been there when he threw up. Steve finally decided to look at the other people with him. There was, of course, Gareth Brookes, the towns teenage criminal. Victoria Hardy was one of the popular crowd, and one of the ones who wanted to be a wannabe queen. Then there was Christopher Smith, one of the nerds of Hawkins. Michelle Jefferson was a recluse in everyone’s eyes. And then there was Justin Shawe, a rather popular jock at Hawkins.

            An odd, mismatched bunch.

            “So what are we supposed to do now?” Gareth hissed. “Sit here and talk about our feelings?”

            “If you want,” Mrs. Whittman nodded. “I will ask that you not leave. Though I think that the Principle may have locked us in.”

            “This is pointless,” Victoria scoffed. “Why on Earth would I want to talk to any of you idiots.”

            Steve decided to tune out their bickering. His head was still pounding. And then, quite suddenly, Steve had a flashlight being shown in his eyes. He instantly jerked back, his head spinning.

            “You appear to have a pretty bad concussion, Mr. Harrington,” Mrs. Whittman hummed as she clicked off the flashlight. “Just relax, alright. All of you. Avery, keep an eye on him and let me know if he gets sick.”

            “What happened, Harrington,” Justin grinned down at him with a sneer. “Did you get into a fight with the new King of Hawkins?”

            “Mr. Shawe,” Mrs. Whittman barked. “Enough. I expect you all to behave.”

            Steve just went back to zoning out after that. He hadn’t even noticed that Avery was sitting beside him at the table. At least, not until she placed a water bottle beside him. She didn’t quite look at him, hunched over a notebook as she had pulled the water bottle from a bag by her side. It took Steve a moment to realize she was offering the water bottle.

            “Thanks,” he mumbled.

            Avery shrugged and continued to write in her notebook. And it was only a few seconds later that the notebook was yanked from her grasp.

            “What’s this,” Justin teased. “Some sort of diary?”

            “Give it back,” Michelle suddenly stood up. “That isn’t any of your concern.”

            “What are you going to do about it, freak?” Justin scoffed. “Here you go, Victoria. See if there’s anything juicy.” Steve stood up at that point. Glaring at Justin, but not quite sure what to do. He knew there wasn’t anything he could do. “Oh, King Steve everyone!” Justin taunted with a sick grin. “What are you going to do? Get beat up again? You may not talk about it, but guess what, Stevie, Billy loves to brag about how you challenged him and he put you in his place.”

            Steve had heard that rumor. “Oh really? And did he tell you how my challenge came because he was beating up his little sister and her friends?”

            “She probably deserved it,” Justin scoffed. “Honestly. Kid was probably a-”

            “Wow,” Michelle spoke up, surprising everyone. “Congratulations. You’ve got your big boy pants on. Let’s call a middle school girl every horrible name we can think of just to defend a guy you think is cool. How do you know he doesn’t hit her regularly? How do we know he doesn’t sell her out to his friends? How do we know he hasn’t raped her?”

            Steve’s fists clenched at this, and he didn’t realize he was shaking until Avery put a hand on his arm. Steve only saw red in that moment.

            “But, no, he’s _cool_ so he can’t do anything wrong,” Michelle taunted. “Plus, she’s only a girl, so it doesn’t really matter what happens to her, now does it? Girl’s are just supposed to take it. The words, the hits, the touching. All of it. A guy is _cool_ so he gets whatever he wants. Isn’t that right, Justin. You’re _cool_ , so why don’t you go have fun with his middle school sister too, huh? Bet it will be fun.”

            “You’re sick,” Victoria breathed out, notebook still clutched in her grasp.

            “Am I?” Michelle snapped back. “Isn’t that what you want Billy Hargrove to do to you? Use you and toss you aside? That’s what he has done to every other girl here he has “dated”. What makes you any different?”

            “This conversation is boring,” Gareth spoke up, cutting any reply Victoria had off. “Let’s check out the diary.”

            The group watched as Gareth plucked the journal from Victoria’s stunned grasp. He had a cheeky smile on his face as he began to skim the pages. Then he stopped, staring at one page and slowly flipping to another. His grin was gone.

            “What is all this?” Gareth questioned. “This isn’t dirt. It’s the plot to some novel.” Gareth frowned at the pages, flipping a bit more. “Did you make this?”

            “Yeah,” Avery muttered shyly. “Sometimes fiction is better than reality.”

            Gareth clicked his tongue before chucking the journal back at Avery. She fumbled, barely catching it, and then clutched it close.

            “Are you really writing a story?” Christopher asked hesitantly, finally joining the others in the weird circle they had formed.

            “Of course she is,” Michelle snorted. “She’s so quite she has to let her imagination run free somehow. She let’s me read her ideas sometimes, and I normally lean more towards blood and gore, but she’s going places.”

            Avery just sort of shrugged, not meeting anyone’s gaze. The conversation had certainly changed in an instant, and Avery clearly did not like the attention.

            “So, uh,” Steve rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of some of the dizziness. “How did everyone get detention. I mean, I threw up in class, and apparently that’s disrupting.”

            “Wait, she was serious?” Justin suddenly turned to Steve. Oh. Steve had forgotten that Justin was in his English class. “Dude, you were sick. Everyone saw that. Mrs. Parker needs help.”

            “She’s also one of the oldest teachers at this school,” Christopher pointed out. “So she can technically do whatever she wants as long as she doesn’t break any rules. Though I think giving a kid detention for being sick and not sending him to the nurse might be against the rules.”

            “Not like I could get a say in even if I tried,” Steve shrugged. “She was pretty intent in having me in detention. Wouldn’t let me explain myself either. Just walked me to the office, yelled about disruption for a good fifteen minutes, and here I am.”

            “That’s messed up,” Michelle stated, getting nods from most of the others. “I spoke out in class. In history. Our teacher gave the wrong date for the battle of Yorktown and I corrected him.”

            “Mr. Thatcher?” Victoria asked.

            “Mr. Thatcher,” Michelle confirmed with a sharp nod.

            Everyone shivered slightly as if the man himself was standing there. Mr. Thatcher took history very seriously, and he hated to be wrong. Pointing it out would have been a death sentence. Michelle was lucky to have only been given a death sentence. Even if you never had Mr. Thatcher, you feared Mr. Thatcher.

            “I skipped school to see Billy,” Victoria whispered, the earlier conversation making her tense. “He stood me up.”

            “I helped Justin with his essay,” Christopher pipped up. “Well, I wrote the essay for him. We got caught.”

            “No thanks to you,” Justin spat.

            “At least you’re still on the football team,” Christopher protested. “My parents have me grounded for a week.”

            “Well aren’t your parents so special,” Gareth snapped. “Congratulations. You’ve been grounded for a week.”

            “Gareth?” Justin sighed, exasperated.

            “Oh, you think you’ve got it worse,” Gareth laughed. “Really? You wanna know how my dad punishes me. Whenever I do something he doesn’t like, he likes to get all his buddies to beat me up and dump me in a ditch. Isn’t that great? But, no, I’m sorry, you’ve been grounded for a week. I’m sure that’s just the absolute worst.”

            “Gareth,” Avery tried this time.

            “You got something to say, sweet-heat?” he spun on her. “You think you got it worse?”

            “Sit down, Gareth,” Avery spoke firmly. “Now.”

            “What are you going to do?” Gareth mocked.

            Gareth didn’t get much more of a chance to talk, because Avery had suddenly used his body weight against him, and he was in the chair. The others watched as an array of bruises suddenly made themselves known on his torso.

            “Don’t give me those looks,” Gareth sneered. “I don’t need your pity.”

            But then Avery was grabbing her bag and pulling out bandages. A lot of bandages. And a few other things. Things that had Steve watching in confusion.

            “Avery, why do you have bandages?” Steve asked.

            Avery chuckled. “It’s funny how easy it is to judge someone just by a glance, even though you know nothing of them.”

            No one else said anything. They just kept watching as Avery bandaged Gareth’s torso. Then she pulled back and moved to the desk, not casting them a glance. Her notebook remained on the table where Steve sank back down to sit. He eyed it warily. They sat in silence after that. No one was quite sure what to say.

\---------------------------------

            “What really happened to Will Byers?”

            Steve tensed, his gaze jerking to Christopher quickly. It had been at least an hour and a half, maybe two hours, since Avery had bandaged up Gareth. The others were looking from Christopher to Steve, all with confused expressions. Steve was just watching Christopher in horror.

            “I mean, that is why you started hanging out with Nancy Wheeler right?” Christopher continued. “After that whole movie theater fiasco. And you started hanging out with Jonathan Byers too. And those kids, recently. Something bad happened. I just figured you got involved.”

            Steve flinched, violently. So violently that he knocked into the table as he stood up. Startled by Steve’s reaction, the other’s jerked up too. And Steve suddenly began to tremble.

            “Steve?”

            “No!” Steve screamed as he jerked away from someone’s touch. “No! I can’t! No!”

            “Steve!” the voices were more urgent.

            When had he gotten on his knees? Steve just kept shaking, fear gripping him in a firm hold. There were hands, and Steve screamed again. Too many voices. Too many hands. Far too much going on. Steve couldn’t make sense of anything.

            Something hit his head, and he fell forward.

            When he woke up, which was funny because he was sure he hadn’t fallen asleep, he was on a couch. And his head was resting in someone’s lap as a hand ran through his hair. It took a moment, but the memories came back.

            “Hey, hey, hey,” a voice soothed from beside him. “You’re okay. Everything’s okay. We aren’t going to ask anymore. Okay. Everything is alright.”

            Avery, she was talking to him. And his head was in Victoria’s lap. The others were nearby, and Mrs. Whittman was watching closely.

            “Steve, how often do these attacks happen?” Mrs. Whittman asked, moving to crouch beside him.

            He thought about lying. Probably should have. But Mrs. Whittman was being nice, and he had just freaked out his classmates. He guessed he owed them something. So he took a deep breath.

            “More than they should,” he confessed. “It was bad. What happened to Will, it was really bad.”

            “Steve, you don’t need to say anything,” Christopher tried, seeming nervous.

            Steve shook his head. “No,” he stated firmly. “No. I need to say something. I can’t tell you what happened. I’m not allowed to tell you what happened. But it was bad. And it wasn’t over. The bad came back recently. We got rid of it, but it was bad, and it might come back.”

            “How bad?” Gareth let slip, getting a slap from Michelle.

            “I still see it sometimes,” Steve breathed. “The thing that took Will. And I keep looking over my shoulder. I keep waiting for something to happen. Nothing ever happens, but I keep expecting the hallucination to be real. Waiting to look over my shoulder, grab the kids, and run from a white van labeled Hawkins Energy.”

            Perhaps he’d said to much, but he couldn’t help it. There was so much pain and agony. Even fear. There was too much at play, and any misstep could be a downfall. But it felt _good_ to talk about it with people who weren’t involved. It felt good to admit he was afraid. Because he was terrified. Absolutely terrified.

            “Steve,” Justin stepped forward. “You’re safe here. Alright? We won’t let anyone touch you.”

            “There would be nothing you could do,” Steve looked Justin dead in the eye. “It would take us no matter what.”

            The others shared glances with each other, watching as Mrs. Whittman tried to soothe Steve.

            “I’m sorry I asked,” Christopher stated, sounding a little unsure.

            Steve let out a laugh, rolling over in Victoria’s lap as he turned to stare at the ceiling. “I’m just surprised no one else has questioned anything yet.”

            “There has to be someway to stop whatever the thing is,” Michelle said, making everyone look to her. “You beat it twice.”

            “Not unless you can somehow summon an army of the undead,” Steve muttered bitterly. The other’s shifted, clearly confused by this statement, but then Steve froze. “It likes it cold.”

            This led to even more confusion, but no one questioned it. They let Steve lay there, Victoria moving away from him too.

            “How did you know Will was taken?” Michelle asked.

            “Things didn’t add up,” Christopher shrugged. “Barb’s death was covered up. The body they found, because if the body was deformed, it would have taken forever to identify him. But they had the funeral right away. Plus, a whole bunch of people went missing and ended up dead. Some people were never found. And the moment Will get’s back, people who would normally never hang out with each other suddenly trust each other.”

            “And you figured Steve was involved in whatever happened?” Justin asked.

            “He changed,” Christopher pointed out. “Drastically. He stopped carrying about being popular. Heck, he checked up on the kids a few times. And then the dynamic between their weird group changed _again_ a few weeks ago, and I don’t think it’s because Nancy broke up with Steve. Something happened, and it had to do with the reason Hawkins Lab shut down.”

            “You think Hawkins Lab took Will?” Mrs. Whittman breathed. “Little Will Byers?”

            “I looked into it,” Christopher continued. “Hawkins Lab is said to be some sort of energy work, but there are no records of what actually happened in the lab. It’s all top secret. But, apparently, the original head of the projects, Doctor Brenner, came to the middle school and “died.” Which is weird because he has another base somewhere where he is working. But Hawkins Lab is a complete mystery. And it was funded by the government. They went through great lengths to hide whatever is in there.”

            “So the government covered up what actually happened,” Michelle hummed, turning to Steve. Said boy was staring at the ceiling. “That would explain why Steve can’t talk about it. They’d cart him away if he said anything.”

            “But what would they need with Will?” Avery asked. “It doesn’t make sense.”

            “Yes it does,” Gareth scoffed. “Human experimentation. That’s what they caught Doctor Brenner doing to a bunch of college students.” The others eyed him warily. “What, I read the newspaper. Here, I’ll show you.”

            With some expert digging, Gareth pulled out several clips from newspaper references. All confirmed that Doctor Brenner had done some sort of experiment on people. All projects had been terminated upon finding out.

            “Why does a man in bio-engineering suddenly become the head of Hawkins energy plant?” Gareth grinned waving one particular document. An article about former experiment Terry Ives. “He doesn’t. He uses it to cover up his real work.”

            “I need you all to do me a favor,” Mrs. Whittman breathed. “I need you all to dig apart the office. Especially anything that involves electricity. Now.”

            They came up clean. Thankfully, but the phones remained dismantled.

            “Now, you’re safe,” Justin patted Steve on the shoulder. “Sort of.”

            And this time, it was a bit more comforting. He was just glad they agreed to drop the subject. For now.

\---------------------------------------

            “This is our thirteenth round of Uno,” Victoria pointed out with a huff. “Are these the only cards you have?”

            “Fraid so,” Mrs. Whittman sighed. “I had a normal deck of cards, but someone stole them.”

            “This time, it was not me,” Gareth said. He was flipping through Avery’s notebook again. “That I can tell you. Could probably find them, though.”

            “No, that won’t be necessary,” Mrs. Whittman waved off. “They only went missing yesterday. I’ll just buy a new pack.”

            “What’s the point in that?” Gareth scoffed. “You’d just be using your own money. And everyone knows teachers don’t get payed enough. You probably get paid even less.”

            “I appreciate the concern,” Mrs. Whittman smiled. “But I’d rather not see you in detention again. This should be your last one out of your chain of detentions, correct?”

            “True,” Gareth shrugged, a smile on his face. “But it’s not like no one is going to stop putting me in detention.”

            “So, we’re not playing Uno?” Christopher asked hesitantly.

            “Well, I do believe it’s lunch time,” Mrs. Whittman sighed, looking at the clock. The clock they had dismantled to keep Steve safe. They put it back together, but none of them knew the time. And the principle had locked them in, so they couldn’t go check. “Why don’t we take a break and eat, and go from there?”

            Steve was not hungry. With his head pounding from the concussion, Steve watched as everyone grabbed their lunches. Well, almost everyone. Gareth just moved back to his table, head thrown back, as if he didn’t care. Steve wondered when the last time Gareth ate was.

            “Here,” Steve said putting the lunch in front of Gareth. “You can have this.”

            “I don’t need your charity, Harrington,” Gareth growled.

            “Then don’t see it as charity,” Steve chuckled. “My spinning head won’t let me eat without throwing it back up. And it will just get tossed out anyways. So, you might as well eat it. Unless you want it to go to waste?”

            Gareth eyed Steve, glaring at him. But he reached into the bag and took a bite of the sandwich. Steve shook his head, turning to go sit back then. He probably needed to go to the hospital. Not eating was bad for him. He took a sip of the water, sitting down again slowly.

            A lot had happened recently. And it had only been about maybe three hours. They couldn’t leave until around three. Which meant about three more hours. This was going to end well.

            “Steve, perhaps you should lay down,” Mrs. Whittman offered. “You did get hit on the head again.”

            “If I lay down, I might fall asleep,” Steve hummed. “Hopper said that’s a bad idea with a concussion.”

            “What do you need us to do?” Victoria asked, eyeing him warily. They all were.

            “Talk,” Steve breathed. “About anything. Everything. Just, give me something to focus on.”

            “Uh, okay,” Justin tried. “Billy Hargrove sucks at basketball.”

            “What?” Victoria asked. “No way, everyone talks about he beats out Steve.”

            “Yeah, if you consider a ball hog a good player,” Justin snorted. “Some of my buddies were telling me the other day that Billy doesn’t do team work. They’ve been talking about having Billy play by himself for the next game because he doesn’t trust his teammates. I’ve even heard coach yelling at Tommy H. about kicking Steve off team captain because Tommy thinks Billy should be captain. Coach says no because Billy doesn’t know how to be a team.”

            “So the guy everyone thinks is so cool is literally only cool because he thinks he’s a one man show,” Gareth scoffed. “I say do it. With Steve down for the count for a bit, just let Hargrove play by himself. Knock the guy down a few pegs.”

            “No, he’s popular because he thinks he’s the reason Steve is no longer on his pedestal,” Michelle pointed out. “The thing is, Steve stepped down from his title the moment he ditched Tommy H. and Carol. Everyone knows this. Except Billy. His biggest gain right now is making the former King look dumb.”

            “That won’t last long,” Avery hummed. “People acknowledge him now because he’s something new, something fresh. But if he keeps playing the “I brought down King Steve” card, he’s bound to lose people. It’ll get old. I think it already has, in a sense.”

            “How so?” Steve asked, thoroughly confused.

            “Well, he beat you up three weeks ago,” Avery pointed out. “And he hasn’t stopped bragging that he put you in your place. The same claim every time. Things like that get old, and with you not saying yes or no either way, resignation becomes nothing more than a blank stare. His claim will lose value.”

            “Tommy will probably try to keep building it up,” Victoria hummed. “I never did figure out why Tommy never took your spot as King. Maybe because he was dating Carol? That will change when he learns that Carol slept with Billy.”

            “What?” Steve gaped. “Carol actually slept with Billy.”

            “You didn’t know?” Justin asked. “I thought everyone knew.”

            “He’s not in the popular crowd anymore,” Michelle pointed out.

            “And those not in the popular crowd don’t ever get told anything,” Christopher added. “I didn’t know.”

            “Neither did I,” Avery hummed.

            “I only knew because I have my ways,” Michelle shrugged.

            “Like anyone was just going to tell me that information,” Gareth chuckled. “But I found out. It wasn’t really hard.”

            “And no one would dare tell Tommy unless they were drunk,” Victoria pointed out. “That would result in a fight, and that doesn’t seem like the best idea.”

            Tommy would lose. No doubt about it. It was probably best that Tommy never find out that Billy and Carol slept together. But he also knew that some drunk idiot was bound to say something.

            “Does anyone else feel like we’re in _The Breakfast Club_?” Victoria suddenly asked. “I feel like we’re in _The Breakfast Club._ ”

            “No,” Gareth shook his head. “No way. We are not in _The Breakfast Club_. There is no way I am comparing myself to that chic-flick.”

            “I dunno,” Avery shrugged. “We’re, mostly, a bunch of people of different social classes all with detention and being asked to sit here and we are passing the time by sharing secrets and discussing our lives.”

            “Oh no,” Justin groaned. “We’re in _The Breakfast Club_. We’re living that dumb movie.”

            “At least we don’t have that awful principle,” Christopher pointed out. “We have the secretly cool librarian most people hate.”

            There was a murmur of agreement. And it got quiet, as if everyone was thinking of something. It was quiet just a bit too long and Steve ended up slumping forward in his seat. He was just so tired, and his head really hurt. Some sleep couldn’t hurt, right?

\----------------------------

            He couldn’t remember what it was, what he dreamed about, but he was screaming as he sat up. He had been moved to the couch, something he became aware of as hands held him down. But it took a while to realize that was what he was laying on. And it also took a while to realize the hands weren’t government people, but his fellow classmates.

            “This is definitely not _The Breakfast Club_ ,” Christopher finally stated once Steve had calmed down and everyone else had caught their breath.

            “Nah,” Gareth chuckled. “It’s just on steroids and full of weird government conspiracies that give a guy nightmares.”

            “You’re not wrong,” Steve chuckled, clearly winded from screaming. “You are definitely not wrong.”

            He wished they were.

            “You know,” Justin muttered, a blank look crossing over his face. “I was thinking about something from the movie. Something bad.”

            “What do you mean?” Christopher asked. “What was bad?”

            Justin let out a pained chuckle, and an almost sad smile fell over his face, making him look slightly hysterical with the added tears.

            “Are we really going to turn out like our parents?” Justin asked. “Because I really don’t want to be like that.”

            “It’s our fate,” Michelle stated, looking Justin dead in the eyes.

            “Nonsense,” Mrs. Whittman called to all of them before they could get too lost in that thought. “You can be whatever person you want to be. I mean, look at me. My parents neglected me my whole life, and up till their dying day, they still seemed to forget I existed. But I grew up, got a job away from my parents, married a man I loved with all my heart and loved me in return. And now look at us. Still happily married with jobs we love, children we adore and visit as frequently as we can. Four grandchildren and another on the way. I’ve accomplished more than my parents ever had in their boring office where they never loved each other. You can be whatever you want to be as an adult.”

            “You really think so?” Gareth asked, eyeing the teacher for some lie.

            “I know so,” Mrs. Whittman stated, a bright smile on her face. “Be the best you, not your parents. And honestly, I realize some of your parents have offered you jobs at offices, but I think most of you would die in those positions. I think you should become your own person.”

            “And how are we going to do that?” Gareth scoffed. “Not all of us are built for college either.”

            “No,” Mrs. Whittman smiled. “But you don’t necessarily need a degree to work at the local mechanic shop. You just need to speak car. Something, I’ve heard, you are quite good at.”

            Gareth was quite for a moment. And the group of them watched as Gareth seemed to be processing this option. He clearly came to some kind of conclusion as he let out a snort.

            “Like anyone would hire me,” Gareth huffed, throwing his hands in the air with a taunting smile. “Yeah, let’s hire Hawkins biggest mistake.”

            “Gareth,” Avery called, almost scolding. “You’re not a mistake.”

            “Really sweetheart?” Gareth snapped. “You think you of all people has a right to tell me that? Don’t think I didn’t notice those bandages around your wrists when you were wrapping me up. Us mistakes have to stay together.”

            Gareth had barely finished his declaration as Steve gripped Avery’s wrists. Sure enough, her wrists were expertly bandaged. Steve was quick to unwrap them, desperate to make sure what he saw wasn’t true.

            “Avery,” Mrs. Whittman breathed. “I thought you stopped.”

            “I’m sorry,” Avery breathed as her scars were revealed to the group. “So sorry.”

            Fresh cut marks. Well, sort of. They had already healed, so not entirely recent, but the angry red of the skin there contrasted against her skin, mixing them with the silver color of scars that still remained from old wounds.

            “Avery,” Michelle was crouched beside Steve. “What happened? Why?”

            “Mom said she wished I had never been born,” Avery shrugged. “Figured I’d end her suffering. It didn’t work.”

            Why couldn’t all parents be like Joyce Byers? Loving, and warm, and caring. No kid deserved to be treated like this. Not ever. Steve looked around the room, eyeing everyone. They all had messed up childhoods. Their parents were all jerks. And in a sudden realization, Steve thought back on his past and came to the conclusion that he might have turned out like his parents. But then he dated Nancy and adopted six kids.

            “Your mom’s a jerk,” Steve stated, still delicately holding Avery’s wrists, but shaking with rage. “All of our parents are jerks. And the next time our jerky parents do something, you are all welcome to stay at my house. No one deserves this sort of treatment.”

            Steve took a moment to look all of his fellow students, no, his friends, in the eyes. They were all who they were today because of their parents. They all had layers to them, and they’d peeled some of those layers away today.

            “We don’t deserve any of what our parents give us,” Steve stated, ending his speech with Gareth. “So you are all welcome to stay whenever you need or want. As long as you don’t mind a bunch of kids occasionally dropping by.”

            Gareth didn’t say anything, just kind of eyed Steve. Earning Gareth’s trust was something Steve knew he would need to work for. It wasn’t going to be easy. But that was a challenge Steve was ready to face. He turned towards Avery again, watching her expression, and then he gently ran his thumbs over the scars. This seemed to break something in Avery as she pitched forward and cried into his shoulder. Michelle was quick to hug them both, letting Steve gently massage her wrists. Then Victoria was joining in, and Justin, and Christopher. Steve shot Gareth a look and the guy just sort of rolled his eyes and then put a hand to her head.

            “Really sorry to break up the moment,” Christopher pulled back. “But I really need to use the restroom.”

            There was a chuckle as Mrs. Whittman took them to her office where there was a private bathroom. It technically wasn’t meant for students, but they were locked in.

            “You know,” Mrs. Whittman hummed as they all settled themselves around the couches in the library. “If you all ever want to discuss your future, and not being your parents, you could always come here. We could discuss your options. And I do happen to know people at the mechanic shop here that could use the help, Gareth.”

            Gareth was left to ponder this option for a moment. They all were. But Steve’s head was hurting again, so he let himself lean back against the couch. He didn’t sleep this time, just stared at the ceiling again. And tried to ignore the monster in the corner of his eye.

\--------------------------------

            “Any super power,” Christopher finally asked. “What would it be?”

            They’d been doing this for some time, the lack of clock being unhelpful. But they weren’t complaining too much. They rather enjoyed being able to relax after the whole heart felt thing. Which led to their current game of asking weird questions.

            “No doubt, super strength,” Justin stated instantly.

            “Invisibility,” Michelle grinned. “Then I could be invisible and taunt the people who try and hurt me.”

            “Remind me not to make you angry,” Gareth chuckled. “I think I’d like to be invincible.”

            “Reading minds would be nice,” Victoria hummed. “Then I’d finally be able to determine when a guy was going to stand me up.”

            “And listen to their dirty thoughts,” Gareth teased with a smirk. Which earned him a hit from Michelle. “It’s true!”

            Michelle slapped him again.

            “I’d rather have the ability to run super fast,” Christopher shrugged. “You know, be able to escape people.”

            Steve was starting to hate how telling this was about his friends.

            “I think I’d like to manipulate time,” Avery shrugged.

            “What about you, Steve?” Justin asked eagerly.

            And Steve had to think about that. He thought of Will, and the pain he had gone through. Bob getting killed. Barb dying. El and her terrible life. The pain they all went through.

            “Empathy,” Steve stated. “I want to have empathy so that I can take away the pain of others and replace it with peace. Or happiness. Or hope. I want empathy.”

            Yeah, their powers were really telling. Steve wondered if there was someone out there, maybe like El, who could do just that. Someone who could help them. They needed some sort of help after-all.

            “Can we do something not depressing,” Gareth spoke up. “Give me a different question before we get too lost in our heads.”

            “Cat or dog?” Mrs. Whittman asked from the other room.

            “Dog!” Victoria called without a second thought.

            “Cat,” Michelle stated.

            “Cat for me,” Christopher stated.

            “Dog, no question,” Justin said.

            “Dog,” Avery stated.

            “Dog,” Gareth agreed.

            “Gotta say, I like both,” Steve stated. “But that’s because I know people with both.”

            “Okay, now I’ve got to ask,” Michelle shifted. “Is Joyce Byers really all that crazy.”

            “No!”

            Steve had heard the rumors, and at one point, he started them himself. Joyce Horowitz Byers, former wife of Lonnie Byers. At one point, everyone thought Joyce would be the woman to tame Lonnie Byers. They had two kids together. But then things changed, and Lonnie walked out. People blamed Joyce. He knew all about their blame.

            “No,” Steve sank back down. “Joyce is probably the best woman I have ever met. The best mom I’ve ever met. When Will went missing, she was the only person that believed Will wasn’t dead without any proof. She always knew. She takes care of her family, even when no one else trusts her.”

            “How did we get from dogs vs. cats to Joyce Byers?” Justin asked.

            “The Byers have a dog named Chester,” Gareth hummed. “Everyone knows this.”

            “So, Mrs. Byers isn’t crazy?” Justin asked.

            “Oh,” Mrs. Whittman stepped forward, startling everyone. “You should have seen Joyce in high school. A regular spitfire. She and Jim Hopper would sneak out of class. Get in all sorts of trouble together. Got caught smoking under the steps at one point. Now look at them. The biggest troublemakers becoming a great mom and a great chief.”

            “Really? Hopper couldn’t even find Barbara Holland,” Michelle scoffed.

            “He did find Barb,” Steve stated, making everyone turn back to him. “He just wasn’t allowed to say anything. Everything that happened, all of the things that went wrong, like Benny’s suicide. It all circles around Will.”

            “This is messed up,” Victoria blurted. “All of it. Why would anyone do that?”

            “They fear a war from Russia or China or something,” Christopher pointed out.

            “Doesn’t make it okay,” Justin grit his teeth. “I mean, look at Steve, he’s traumatized.”

            Steve huffed at that. They weren’t wrong, but he was coping with his trauma. He was fine. Sort of. The concussion was probably bad. And the nightmares weren’t helping either. But he was still, technically, coping.

            “I think we can agree that the first thing we do when we get out is take Steve to the hospital,” Christopher stated, being bolder than he had all day.

            “What?” Steve bulked. “No! I don’t need a hospital.”

            “Let’s vote,” Avery clapped. “All in favor of taking Steve to the hospital?”

            Steve scowled as everyone, including Mrs. Whittman, raised their hands. “Can we go back to talking about Joyce and Hopper. I want to hear more about them.”

            Mrs. Whittman had many stories about Joyce and Hopper. Some flat out funny, and many embarrassing. Steve was just glad to have the stories as leverage. He wasn’t sure in which situation he would use them, but he wasn’t going to dwell on that now.

            “If Mrs. Byers and Chief Hopper were so close, why did she marry Lonnie Byers?” Victoria asked, concern on her face.

            “Oh,” Mrs. Whittman clapped. “It came as a shock to us too, but it really came down to the fact that Hopper got drafted. He spent time in Vietnam. And when he came back, he married his ex-wife and moved to the city with their daughter. By that point, Joyce had already been married to Lonnie and had Jonathan. But Lonnie wouldn’t work, and it left the Byers’ family poor. Which is why those awful rumors started.”

            “We should start a club,” Gareth stated. “The messed-up parent club. We’ll be the first members and we’ll instate Jonathan later.”

            “Just as long as we don’t call ourselves _The Breakfast Club_ ,” Michelle wrinkled her nose. “That’s just stupid and cliché.”

            “You can say that again,” Justin nodded.

            The door clicked open after that, and the group turned to face the Principle.

            “I guess it’s time to go,” Mrs. Whittman grinned. “Should we car pool?”

            “That sounds great,” Avery beamed, making Steve scowl.

            And as they all trudged out to their cars, Steve looked over his new group of friends and wondered if they felt the same way. He woke up to them sitting in his room at the hospital, every last one of them, so he figured they had to feel somewhat similar. He wondered if things would go back to normal, or if they would acknowledge each other. Only time would tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Steve needs friends. And I'm excited for Robin, but I'm afraid she's going to be a love interest character. But I also have a lot of faith in the Duffer Brothers and their writing skills, so hopefully they start as friends (and maybe become lovers later as they get to know each other if that is the plan). But until then, Steve needs friends. So I give him friends.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Detention is over with, but the group of seven isn't quite done with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who is ready for Season 3, raise you hands!

            Steve’s concussion went away slowly, a little too slowly, but with a proper Doctor’s note, Steve was excused from most activities, though he insisted to being in school. His English teacher almost gave him detention again, but Mrs. Whittman must have said something because the Principle wouldn’t hear of it. But the biggest change happened the first day Steve went back to school after a week in the hospital.

            “How’s your head?” a familiar voice asked.

            “I’m fine, Victoria,” he smiled warily at her. “But do you really think hanging out with me is a good idea? Everyone knows you liked Billy. Won’t it send the wrong signal?”

            Steve had a lot of time to think about this in the hospital. He was, after all, the wash-out King of Hawkins. Anyone of his new friends hanging out with him in public could ruin their lives. He didn’t want that for them. Ever.

            Victoria, however, scoffed. “Seriously, Steve,” she stared at him, as she motioned between the two of them. “This is what’s going to destroy my reputation? I don’t think so. I’ve been giving Gareth a lunch for the past week.”

            Books in hand, Steve shut his locker and sent Victoria a grin. “That’s one way to ruin your reputation.”

            “Maybe a little,” Victoria shrugged. “See you later Steve.”

            Steve chuckled and moved to head to his next class. Gareth saluted him in the hall way, and Steve handed him a pencil. The pen in Gareth’s ear was clearly broken and wouldn’t work. Gareth just shook his head and accepted the pencil.

            Classes mostly went by in a blur, and he ended with English. He’d seen both Michelle and Christopher once. And he had seen Victoria and Gareth a few times. But he had yet to see Avery and Justin. There schedules didn’t really cross. So come English, as he slid into his seat with the teacher’s glare on him, daring him to throw up again, he was surprised as Avery and Justin stood up.

            “What do the two of you think you’re doing?” Mrs. Parker snapped as they both approached Steve’s desk.

            “Following the syllabus,” Justin hummed as he handed Steve his stack of papers. “And giving Steve the notes for the class.”

            “Excuse me?” Mrs. Parker demanded. “When did I say you could do that?”

            Avery handed Steve her stack of notes and then pulled out a syllabus. “Page 3 of your syllabus under the **Absent** part it clearly states “students who are absent should not expect the teacher to have the notes for class when they are not there. The absent student is expected to get the notes from his/her classmates.” And as Steve is our classmate, we made him notes.”

            “We followed the rules,” Justin shrugged nonchalantly. “Unless you were purposefully trying to fail our friend here. In that case, we have to get the Principle and parents involved.”

            Mrs. Parker spluttered, getting a few laughs from her students. She had been caught, and she knew it. Mrs. Whittman had even approached her the other day, and all Avery had to do was tell her mentor what happened. So Mrs. Parker got on with the class and handed out essays she finished grading. She normally let the students discuss their essays, and she was pleased when Steve sulked at his grade. Until she watched Avery pick it up.

            “Wow,” Avery hummed, just for Steve and Justin to hear. “That’s interesting. I do believe he answered the bare minimum of the requirements.” She flipped through it a few times. “Library, after class. If she’s failing you purposefully then that could get her fired. I mean, you did at least manage to reach all the requirements.”

            Steve frowned and tucked the essay away. He was just going to toss it, but Avery’s statement troubled him. He ended up following Avery to the library after class.

            “Your writing skills leave something to be desired,” Mrs. Whittman hummed. “But you met the bare minimum requirement. I’ll take it to the Principle. We’ll discuss things here.”

            An argument, Steve had no doubt, she would win. To Steve’s surprise, the other six had taken to hanging out in the library after school. And if there was an activity going on, the others would wait for them to join them. It was almost like a safe haven.

            The following day, there were several rumors flying about the school. All about the odd group of friends. They ignored the rumors, and Victoria once more greeted Steve at his locker. Gareth passed them, surprisingly earlier than usual. That had them worried, and Gareth quickly became their topic of discussion. Then, Steve was on his way to class.

            At least, until Nancy stopped him.

            “You realize she’s just using you, right?” Nancy questioned, brow raised as she eyed him.

            “Who, Victoria?” Steve asked, playing innocent. “We’re not dating, Nance. She’s just a friend.”

            “Don’t tell me you’re that dumb?” Nancy snapped. “Everyone knows she has a crush on Billy. She’s just using you because he stood her up. Don’t fall for that.”

            “Believe me, Nance, she isn’t my type,” Steve shook his head, chuckling. “I’ve got to go. You know, class.”

            With a casual wave, he left Nancy to stand there and gape. There were taunts and calls all through the day, and Steve made a sharp remark to each one. The others seemed to be holding their own too, not letting the rumors or sharp words get to them. Though Steve kept an eye on Avery and Gareth. Justin was protecting Christopher and Michelle. Victoria was looking for any signs of Steve having a panic attack. And they were all looking out for each other.

            “We never did come up with a name for our weird group,” Christopher pointed out one day.

            “Can we just, not,” Gareth stated. “That seems pointless.”

            Steve was only half paying attention as the others threw out names. Though Gareth had a lot of protest to all of the names. Instead, he was bent over a few college essays that Avery was helping him with. It had become a thing between them, Avery helping him with essays. He still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, but he wanted to do something with his life. And right now, college was his best option.

            “Why don’t we all just come up with names and bring them tomorrow,” Christopher suggested.

            Regardless, none of the names got chosen the next day.

\---------------------------------

            “Nancy’s angry at you, but I’m not sure why,” Mike stated as they ate pizza.

            With Steve’s parent’s rarely home, it became a safe place for El to hang out with her friends. They often came on Friday nights to play games, and Steve was often the only one to chaperone the group.

            “She’s angry because I’m hanging out with Victoria Hardy,” Steve grumbled. “She used to have a crush on Billy, so a whole bunch of rumors spread that she’s using me to make Billy jealous.”

            “Is she?” Max asked, hatred falling across her face.

            “No,” Steve shook his head. “First of all; we aren’t dating. Second of all; she isn’t my type. And third of all; she was one of those people I had detention with. You know, my weird new friend group.”

            “So, Nancy is jealous?” Dustin asked hesitantly.

            Steve shrugged. He hadn’t been sure why Nancy was acting the way she was. It was all odd to him. Sure, a part of him still loved Nancy, but she had made it clear she didn’t love him. He just generally chose not to think about it.

            There was a hesitant knock on the door, and the group of kids tensed. Motioning them to be quiet, Steve made his way over to the door. It was too early for anyone to show up, though Billy often showed up early. But this was early, even for Billy. But it wasn’t Billy, and Steve bulked as he took in the sight that greeted him at the door.

            “I didn’t know where else to go,” Gareth mumbled before he fell forward.

            Steve, thankfully, had a great reaction time from dealing with monsters. He caught Gareth quickly, lowering his friend to the ground. Gareth looked terrible, and he was furious at the thought of Gareth’s own father raising a hand to his son. Pulling Gareth inside, he slammed the door shut and marched his friend upstairs. He tried to be gentle, but Gareth was unconscious. There was no way to tell if he was in pain as they moved. The kids watched as he marched upstairs.

            El followed eagerly. Which meant the rest of the kids followed.

            “Is he going to be okay?” El asked.

            Steve lay Gareth on one of the beds and sighed. “Just help me get his shirt off.”

            He didn’t know. He didn’t know if Gareth would be okay. And that terrified him. So he worked numbly as he tried to save his friend. The kids helped, and he was beyond grateful for that. As he finished Gareth’s wrist, he noticed the boy’s eyes were open, staring at him.

            “So I made it,” Gareth croaked, a pained smile spreading on his face.

            “Don’t talk,” Steve gripped Gareth’s good shoulder, the other having been previously dislocated. “You need to sleep. Or I could get you some water if you want.”

            “Nah,” Gareth shook his head just enough for Steve to see. He turned his head a bit towards the door, then shot a glance at Steve as his smile grew. “Those your kids?”

            Sure enough, the six stood in the doorway, looking over each other to see how Gareth was doing. It made Steve smile softly as he turned back to Gareth.

            “Yeah,” he nodded. “Those are my kids.”

            “They’re cute,” Gareth mumbled.

            This got multiple protests from the kids and a bark of laughter from Steve. Good old Gareth Brookes. Half dying in Steve’s bedroom and still trying to pick a fight. Will was kind enough to get Gareth some water as Steve tried to make Gareth more comfortable. Then, leaving only a lamp on, Steve herded the kids downstairs.

            “Bad man,” El growled, still eyeing the stairs. “His Papa is a bad man.”

            “Yeah,” Steve nodded bitterly, leaning against the kitchen counter.

            The kids were at the table again, all unable to say anything. The sight of someone beat up like that had many things going through their heads. What, Steve didn’t know. But El’s comment got all the kids to break out of their own thoughts and watch her. Steve lifted his glass of water to his lips. He promised himself no alcohol in front of the kids. And it was probably best not to drink in front of Gareth either.

            “His papa is a very, very bad man,” Steve hissed as he pulled the cup away.

            If he squeezed the cup any harder, it was going to break. But then the sound of Billy’s car horn was outside, and Max bid everyone a quick goodbye. The others seemed to fall back into thought once Max and Billy were gone. Max was probably still thinking too.

            “Kind of morbid in here,” Hopper hummed as he let himself in. “What, did your Party die?”

            “Bad man,” El stated.

            A few moments later after a blurry conversation, Hopper watched as Steve pulled away the blanket from Gareth’s sleeping form. Gareth twitched in his sleep but didn’t wake. Not yet. Steve sort of wished he would wake up, but he also knew Gareth would be in less pain as he slept. So he was grateful for his friend’s ability to sleep.

            “He says his dad does this a lot,” Steve whispered to Hopper. “All the time. We tried to get him to go to the police, but he’d just laugh us off. Said they’d never listen.”

            Hopper let out a sigh that was a little too loud. “I’ll see what I can do.”

            It wasn’t much, but Steve trusted Hopper. He carefully pulled the blanket back up and watched as El smoothed back his hair gently. If Hopper didn’t do something, he knew he could at least trust El to do something. And the nod she gave him was all the proof he needed from her. Gareth was Steve’s friend. Steve was El’s friend. Friends protect friends, even if they aren’t your own friend.

            “I’ll see what I can do,” Hopper repeated after a moment. “I can promise anything. You have to understand that.”

            “I promise to do something,” El stated, locking eyes with Steve again.

            “El,” Hopper tried to protest. “El, you can’t make that promise.”

            “Steve’s friend,” El pointed to Gareth. “And Steve is my friend. Makes him my friend. Friends protect friends. If you can’t or won’t do something, I can and will.”

            “What, you some kind of child hitman?” Gareth whispered, the amusement clear in his voice.

            “Nah,” Steve grinned at her as he crouched beside his friend. “She’s just special and has a few gifts.”

            Gareth hummed, finally opening his eyes. “Who names their kid, El?”

            “Nickname,” El stated back. “My real name is Jane.”

            “Nice to meet you, Jane,” Gareth grinned as El began to run her hand through his hair again.

            Steve couldn’t help but smile at the two. Later that night, really late at night, Hopper called and said he got a full, drunk, confession from Gareth’s father. As Gareth was eighteen, he could legally be on his own. Which worked just fine for Steve because Gareth wasn’t going anywhere. Except school, and maybe to work at the mechanic shop.

\--------------------------------

            “This must suck,” Justin teased as he nudged Steve. “Watching your team fall apart like this.”

            Steve still wasn’t cleared by the doctor, but coach had yet to pick a new captain. So Steve just sort of watched as the team played. Terribly, might he add. Most of the time was just them arguing. The others had taken to joining Steve whenever he was in the gym. They wanted him to feel less alone as his team mates scowled at him. But this time, they were all arguing again. Michelle leaned over and whispered something to Avery, and after a hesitant pause, Avery followed Michelle onto the court.

            To those paying attention, which was not the people who were supposed to be practicing, the two girls walked passed the players. Instead, Avery moved to stand at the three point mark while Michelle moved for the ball. She dribbled it for a bit, just walking across the court with the ball. And then she suddenly threw the ball towards Avery. The moment Avery caught it, she was sending the ball flying. And it landed in the net.

            The five still on the bleachers watching instantly stood and screamed. But not like, a horrified screamed. More like a scream people often did at pep rallies. Michelle was beaming as she ran after that ball, and even Avery had a timid smile on her face.

            “Wasn’t David Walsh her father?” Christopher suddenly turned to Steve.

            Oh. Wow. That explained a lot. David Walsh was the star player of Hawkins High many years ago. Many, many years ago. It was a bit surprising that Steve hadn’t made the connection. But then again, no one talked much of Basketball Star, David Walsh, since the car accident that claimed his life. But did David Walsh really teach his daughter basketball.

            “Kid, you make that shot again and I may just have to put you on the team,” Coach called, _finally_ getting the attention of players.

            Avery sort of shrunk away at that, but it was replaced by a soft smile as she looked to where the other five were standing. Michelle began to dribble the ball again, and Avery snapped to attention. Once more, Michelle jerked the ball, and once more, Avery made the shot. This time it hit the edge of the rim, danced around it, and sank in. The others couldn’t help but cheer harder.

            “You might as well offer her a spot, Coach,” Steve called down from the bleachers. “That’s David Walsh’s girl. And it looks like his skill was hereditary.”

            Avery shot him a look that probably wouldn’t have been all that terrifying had he not gotten to know her. But Coach just chuckled and moved to shake Avery’s hand. If he noticed the bandages as he gripped her wrist, he said nothing about them.

            “Your father was a great man,” Coach told Avery. “And an even better friend. We were originally going to do this job together, but you were always first for him. He was going to wait till you at least hit middle school before you came here. I have no doubt he taught you everything he knew.” He paused, not quite looking at her wrists, but his hand slowly let go. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there more for your family. If you need help at all, I would be glad to offer it now.”

            Avery smiled timidly at that, casting another glance at her friends.

            “So the daughter of some hot shot?” Billy questioned, that look of staring at prey on his face. “Well then, why don’t you show me what you’ve got in some one-on-one?”

            Steve was already walking down the bleachers. “Leave her alone, Hargrove.”

            “Or what, Harrington?” Billy turned to tease Steve. “You gonna let me beat you up again? I’m ready if you are.”

            Before anyone could say anything, Avery was chucking the ball at Hargrove’s chest, causing him to stumble back. Michelle was suddenly at Steve’s side, pulling him back up the bleachers. And Steve watched in horror as Avery got into a stance. As he tried to step forward and protest again, Justin’s hand came down onto Steve’s shoulder.

            “You defend us,” Justin said firmly. “Let us defend you.”

            The players were snickering and whispering as they took to the bleachers. But someone had run out of the gym and had gone running through the halls shouting about a “basketball fight”, and now there were students and teachers who had stayed after school walking into the gym to see what was happening.

            “I’m going to kill them,” Steve whispered under his breath.

            “Steve?”

            Steve turned to see Jonathan making his way over to them with Will by his side. Of course, Jonathan was probably here after school to develop some photos. And because no one wanted Will home alone, the poor boy was in the high school to wait on his brother.

            “Believe me,” Steve sighed as he glared to where Billy was smirking at the crowd. “This was _not_ my idea.”

            Will instantly sat next to Steve but turned to Gareth. “Are you okay?”

            Gareth grinned and rustled Will’s hair. “Don’t worry kid,” he teased. “Mama Steve has me well looked after.”

            Steve turned to glare at Gareth as Will laughed. He didn’t get time to retort as Coach blew the whistle, tossing the ball in the air. Billy grabbed the ball first, but Avery quickly swiped it. A few seconds later, she was down the court and tossing the ball into the net. The game went on, points being scored on both sides. Billy was big, brawny, and preferred the offensive over defense. But Avery was light, small, quick, and knew how to handle both sides of the game. Though she clearly preferred defense.

            Quite a few times, Billy would knock Avery off her feet, throwing his usual jeer of “plant your feet” at her as he scored each time he did so. But it soon became clear that Avery just didn’t have the body weight to stop Billy from throwing her over, even when she planted her feet. She was too light.

They were tied at the last minute, and Avery had the ball. She was trying to stay away from Billy but wasn’t getting anywhere close to the net. It was like a game of chicken, as she tried to get around him. And she’d barely managed to dodge his attempts of knocking her over. In a last-ditch effort, Avery pulled away from Billy and made for center court. Billy saw what everyone else saw. She was going to try and make the shot from the three-point line. There were only a few seconds left, so Billy charged at her.

            “Avery!” her friends screamed.

            Avery threw the ball right as Billy’s body connected with hers. The crowd that had formed held their breath as the ball danced around the rim. And fell through the basket. The cheers of the crowd were cut off by an agonized scream.

            Avery had landed on her wrist, and it looked funny.

            Steve wasted no time in getting to Avery’s side, and Justin was quickly getting her to the car. The friends didn’t stay to see how things were being handled with Billy. Avery was more important. There were no visitors allowed back as Avery got her wrist checked out, and once Avery’s mom showed up, she permitted no visitors other than family. Which left the six full of nerves. So when Avery came out, they all rushed to her.

            “Get away from my daughter!” Avery’s mother yelled.

            “With all due respect, Mrs. Walsh,” Michelle stated. “No.”

            “Excuse me?” she demanded.

            “Your daughter is eighteen,” Michelle snapped. “She is legally an adult. Which means she doesn’t need to answer to you anymore. She can make her own choice now, and from the looks of it, she would rather stay with us.”

            “Avery Walsh!” her mother yelled. “You come with me right now or you will never see your notebooks again! And I will lock you back in the crate!”

            “I’m sorry ma’am,” a very familiar voice that made Steve smile suddenly spoke up. “Are you implying that you lock your daughter up in a box? Because that would be a confession to child abuse, which is very much illegal.”

            “Of course not,” Mrs. Walsh stuttered out as she turned to face Chief Hopper. “I-I would never do that. She-she’s my daughter.”

            “Huh,” Hopper said. “Then I guess you won’t mind me searching your house.”

            “You need a warrant!” Mrs. Walsh declared smugly.

            “Not if I have reasonable suspicion,” Hopper stated. “I’m here because I got a phone call that you were threatening your daughter and telling her she should be dead. And I get here and hear you say something about ruining her property and then locking her in a box used for shipping material as if she were an object. I think I have enough reasonable suspicion, and I would hate for any evidence to disappear.”

            As Mrs. Walsh followed Hopper out the door, screaming her head off, Gareth turned to Steve.

            “Are we adopting her too?” he asked, cocking his head.

            Steve laughed at that, pulling Avery close.

\--------------------------------

            “Guess who became a mechanic!” Gareth called as he entered the library.

            “Congratulations, Mr. Brookes,” Mrs. Whittman smiled as the other six congratulated their friend. “I’m glad things worked out.”

            “Only thanks to you, Mrs. Whittman,” Gareth grinned. “Things are finally turning around.”

            “I think things started turning around the day we all had detention,” Christopher grinned, earning a hair ruffle from Gareth.

            Things had sort of turned around after that detention. For all of them. And in front of Steve was one final form he had for his future. An application to the police academy. He wasn’t quite ready to leave Hawkins just yet, but he could spare two years to learn. He could keep a better eye on things this way. Even if nothing happened, he needed to stay. His friends understood that. It wasn’t healthy, his friends pointed that out a lot, but they understood.

            “We never did come up with a name,” Victoria hummed out.

            “Not this again,” Gareth grumbled.

            “I’m with Gareth this time,” Michelle pointed to said guy. “This is stupid.”

            This got a few arguments out of the group, and Steve just sort of chuckled as he shook his head. He was putting the application away and stretching when someone grabbed his hair and yanked. Steve let out a cry as he was yanked out of his chair and roughly thrown into a shelf.

            “Ah, come on Harrington,” the voice of Billy Hargrove taunted. “Don’t feel like a little fun?”

            “Mr. Hargrove,” Mrs. Whittman snapped. “Back off, or you will be enjoying some detention time.”

            Billy just grinned at Steve and stalked off.

            “What’s his problem?” Justin hissed as he helped Steve stand.

            “Me,” Steve muttered. “Obviously.”

            “He needs to chill out,” Michelle scoffed. “Honestly. What is he trying to do?”

            “Take over the territory,” Christopher explained. “He thinks he’s the predator, and Steve is the alpha he needs to knock down. So if Steve claims friends and a place to hang out. So if he keeps knocking Steve down, he can get complete control of the school. But as long as Steve still has friends and a place to control, Billy can’t really be king. So he’s going to belittle Steve in school.”

            “Then I guess I should have given him detention,” Mrs. Whittman grumbled.

            “As long as he doesn’t try to hurt an of you,” Steve spoke up, rubbing his head, “I’ll be fine.”

            Steve watched the expressions on his friend’s faces, but there was nothing they could do. Besides, Steve had been a bully most his life. Perhaps it was time he take the bullying.

            “You’re our friend, Steve,” Victoria stepped forward. “We’re not going to let you deal with that.”

            Unfortunately, his friends could be quite persistent when they wanted to be. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing either. It was nice to have friends. Real friends.

\------------------------------

            The day Tommy H. came to school looking like a train wreck, everyone knew why. Steve eyed his former best friend several times throughout the day. With Billy running the crowd and Tommy’s anger at Carol, Tommy was truly alone in his endeavors. Steve wasn’t sure what to do.

            “You could try talking to him,” Victoria tried to encourage at their lockers the next day. “You know. Let him know you’re there and maybe want to make up.”

            “Maybe,” Steve shrugged as he glanced over at Tommy.

            Was he really ready to make up with Tommy? Would Tommy let them make up? Would Steve let them make up? Would he ditch his new friends if they did make up?

            There were a lot of questions throughout the day that ran through Steve’s head. All making his head turn. But in one moment, none of that mattered. One moment was all it took for Steve to step up and do something.

            _Slap!_

            The sound rang out through the hall as Steve batted Billy’s hand away from Tommy’s face. Billy had been taunting Tommy, digging his fingers into Tommy’s cuts and bruises as he spoke of what he did with Carol. Steve only saw red in that moment.

            “Back off, Hargrove,” Steve said, already pulling Tommy back.

            “Oh! King Steve everyone!” Billy yelled into the hallway, catching the attention of those who weren’t already looking. “Let’s end this, right here, right now. Let’s see who gets to be King once and for all.”

            “At this point, Hargrove,” Steve turned away, pulling Tommy with him, “I think you’re the only one who cares.” He paused, for just a second. “And for the record, I haven’t been King since 1983, before you got here. So what on Earth is the point of this?”

            He practically tossed Tommy onto the couch in the library where the others were waiting. Avery was in front of Tommy in seconds, instantly checking that Tommy had properly handled his cuts and wounds. He hadn’t.

            “Why are you doing this?” Tommy asked after a few moments of silence where Avery had wrapped him up.

            Steve gripped Tommy’s shoulder, making the other guy look up at him. “I’ve been on the other hand of those fists.”

            He squeezed Tommy’s shoulder and moved to sit next to Gareth and Victoria. The group of seven then went on to joke around about things, taking Tommy’s mind off recent events. And if Tommy cracked a smile at their antics, none of them mentioned it.

            The next day, Billy Hargrove punched Steve in the high school parking lot. Right in the face. Again. Justin managed to pull Steve away from a second punch, and some of the football players were holding Billy back. The Principle was not amused. Neither was Steve.

            “He punched me first!” Billy protested.

            “You liar!” Justin bit back. “He didn’t do anything but walk past you! What is wrong with you?”

            “Enough!” the Principle roared. “We’re going to do this one at a time. All of you. You first, Mr. Hargrove.”

            Billy shot Steve a smirk out of the Principle’s line of sight and then vanished into the office. Steve was so done with life right now, it wasn’t even funny. Steve, for whatever reason, went last.

            “Would you please just tell me what happened?” the Principle sighed.

            “Yeah,” Steve nodded. “But I should probably start at the beginning.”

            So he told the Principle about the Halloween party and his first encounter with Billy. He told him of Billy’s teasing on the basketball court and how he thought nothing of it because of other things happening. How Billy confronted him at the Byers (not mentioning monsters) because he was babysitting and his step-sister had snuck out. He talked of the beating, of the shoving and pushing in the hallway, of Tommy’s recent fight with Billy and how the confrontation went yesterday.

            “And then he just sort of decked me today,” Steve shrugged. “Which I’m honestly unsure as to why that happened, but I think something about me just makes Billy angry.”

            “I see,” the Principle sighed. “And you seem okay with this?”

            “Well, he isn’t messing with my friends or the kids,” Steve shrugged. “So I don’t really see a problem right now. Let’s be honest, I wasn’t the best kid growing up.”

            The Principle chuckled at that. “Quite true,” he nodded. “But those kids seem to have done you some good. Oh, and by the way, your grade in English has been raised to the proper grade it should be, and the detention will not be on your record. Mrs. Whittman and I had a talk with Mrs. Parker.”

            “You didn’t have to do that,” Steve shook his head. “But thank you.”

            “Now,” the Principle hummed. “What to do with Billy Hargrove.”

            “Just let him go,” Steve shrugged. “Detention isn’t going to do him any good. He’ll just blame me for it. You could threaten to give detention if he gets physical again, but it probably won’t do much.”

            The Principle agreed, letting the boy’s go, and Billy gave Steve a smirk. Steve didn’t even acknowledge Billy, just went to his locker with his note as to why he was late to class. He didn’t see Billy’s anger at this lack of reaction and simply kept walking. He didn’t want to think about it.

            Steve wasn’t aware of it then, but his confrontation with Billy the other day had started a path that would spiral around until it would eventually take Billy off his thrown. His words had struck a cord with all attending Hawkins High.

\----------------------------

            Steve was staring at it. His pool. Gareth had asked about it, but Steve hadn’t touched his pool since that night. _That_ night. Avery and Gareth were eyeing him, worry on their faces.

            “Barb died here,” Steve finally breathed out. “She was sitting on the diving board, bleeding from a cut, and it killed her.”

            They didn’t ask, just watched. Though Avery placed a hand on his shoulder.

            “And it’s all my fault,” he breathed out.

            They didn’t tell him it was okay. They didn’t tell him it wasn’t his fault. They let him sink to his knees and they held him. And honestly, that was what Steve needed.

            “You’ve got us now,” Gareth stated firmly. “We’re here now. We have you.”

            “It’s okay to not be okay,” Avery whispered. “You taught us that.”

            And maybe he had, but it felt amazing to hear it from someone else. Because he really wasn’t okay, and probably never would be. His friends didn’t know what he had gone through, but they didn’t need to. What happened hurt Steve, and they were going to take care of him. And that was all Steve ever wanted. Someone to take care of him. To just be there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to get fun in the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was just a day chilling at school. And he had even fixed things with Nancy. So why did it have to go so wrong? Why did his nightmares have to come back to life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun! So much fun! I've watched the trailer a few too many times. Let me tell you, the Duffer Brothers know how to make a good trailer. The bare minimum information, and yet still hooked. Brilliant!

            It had been nice, sort of, over the last few months. Billy Hargrove was still bullying him, but Steve found that he couldn’t really care. He had six great friends, two other sort of friends, six kids, a mother figure who cared, and a gruff father figure. Life was nice in that moment. But reality had a way of crashing down on him. On everyone.

            “Gareth, three’s?” Victoria called as she shuffled her cards.

            Victoria was winning, and by Gareth’s groan as he handed over the cards, she was close to being the winner. It was just after school, and as usual, the seven were in the library. Nancy and Jonathan were close by, working on an essay or something. Steve wasn’t sure. He’d made up with Nancy though. That was nice. He sent them both a smile when Gareth caught their attention.

            Two things happened, one after the other. The first was that the light flickered. This, of course, made the three go tense as they had bad memories of this sort of thing. But the brushed it off after a minute. Which was a terrible idea as the second thing that happened was that there were two screams. One was definitely human. The other was all too familiar.

            Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve lunged up in an instant. And even in the flashing lights, it was obvious they were shaking in fear. Nancy quickly pulled out her gun, and Steve was trying to calculate how long it would take to get to his car. But he couldn’t leave his friends unguarded.

            “What was that?” Mrs. Whittman demanded as she emerged from her office.

            “Something bad,” Steve stated, taking a step away from the door. “Something very, very bad.” He swept his gaze around the room, trying to find some sort of suitable weapon. “No one is bleeding, right?”

            They all shook their heads, including Avery.

            “We have to get out of here,” Nancy whispered from behind them. “Before they get here.”

            “Mrs. Whittman,” Steve turned to her. “Is there an exit in the library?”

            She shook her head, and Steve’s heart nearly stopped. “Libraries are generally built to be the heart of the school. There isn’t an exit close by.”

            “Right,” Steve was wracking his brain, trying to remember what the kids had said. And trying not to worry about them too. “Okay, so these things like it cold.” His thoughts were cut off by two more human screams and another screech from the creature, or creatures. “They don’t like fire. We know they don’t like fire.”

            “I’ve got a lighter,” Justin offered.

            “Yeah, me too,” Gareth pulled his out. “And a bunch of matches. But what’s that gonna do? These things probably aren’t flammable. And it sounds like we can’t get close.”

            Michelle quickly snatched both lighters as she dug around in her bag. Why she had two cans of hairspray in her back, they’d probably never know. But she threw one can and one lighter at Steve.

            “Hairspray is flammable,” Michelle stated at their odd looks. “Point, spray, light. It’s that simple. Now let’s go.”

            Michelle practically kicked open the door and eagerly lit a Demodog on fire. While others gaped, Steve joined her side. He couldn’t let one of his friends face these monsters alone. Christopher had grabbed a bunch of heavy encyclopedias as weapons, Justin and Gareth were holding chairs. Victoria had grabbed something off Mrs. Whittman’s desk. And Avery, Jonathan, and Mrs. Whittman were holding some sort of pens. Steve just lit the next Demodog on fire.

            “Get out!” Steve screamed into the hallways as the others ran towards an exit. “Get to an exit! Run! Run!”

            Steve lit several more of the monsters on fire, and then several students all burst outside at once. All screaming. Steve was headed straight for the middle school, even as his friends called for him. The kids had AV Club after all. Nothing seemed to be happening at the middle school, but Steve certainly didn’t stop running. He threw open the door to the AV room, making the kids jump. Steve had to take a moment to appreciate his kids were alright.

            “Steve,” Dustin laughed nervously. “Don’t scare us like-”

            “Demodogs,” Steve wheezed. “In the high school. We need to go.”

            “What?” Will questioned, wide eyed and terrified.

            “Now!” Steve called as he grabbed Will and began to run again. Much to Mr. Clarke’s protest.

            They’d barely started to move when the lights flashed. Steve booked it. Will in his arms, and Mr. Clarke being dragged by the kids, they ran, Steve screaming down the hall as the sound of Demodogs screamed behind them. The kids and Mr. Clarke eagerly picked up their pace.

            “Run!” Steve screamed as they got out of the exit. The high schoolers had all gathered together And they were still staring at the high school. “Run! You idiots! Run!”

            The high schoolers cut towards the town, along with the teachers and staff of both schools. Steve cut towards the woods. Gareth, much to Steve’s surprise, was holding the nail bat. He had no idea how the guy got into his trunk, but he wasn’t going to ask either. He quickly gave Will to Jonathan, and Nancy grabbed her brother’s hand. And they were running.

            “El!” Dustin was screaming into his head set as Avery made sure he didn’t fall. “El! Code Red! Code Red! El! The gate is open! El!”

            There was a growl, and the group had to stop running. There was a lone Demodog watching them. Chucking the make-shift blow torch to Justin, Steve grabbed the bat from Gareth, and charged the Demodog.

            “Run!” Steve screamed again as he threw the thing against a tree. “Run!”

            “Steve!” Victoria screamed.

            “Run!” Steve hollered.

            He spun just in time to swing at a second Demodog. He knew this would happen. Going through the woods was a risk, but it was the quickest way to El and Hopper’s cabin. And with those things, there was no way they could take a car. Stupid gate and electricity and all that other stupid stuff.

            Steve barely had time to tell them to run once more as a Demodog latched onto his back. He was going to end up like Barb and Bob. Or maybe like Will. But he figured he would rather die than become possessed. But in the blink of an eye, Steve accepted whatever fate would come. In a second blink of an eye, the Demodog was yanked off him, and he was being dragged across the forest floor until he hit someone’s knee.

            And El roared as Steve felt the world go dark.

\-------------------------------

            There was a sniff, followed by, “Don’t sit up you idiot. You’ll just hurt yourself more.”

            Steve groaned as a hand fell on his chest, keeping him in place. He was laying on something soft that had to be a bed. It felt nice. And there was a hand in his hair that felt equally nice. But there was also a great deal of sniffling around the room, and the voice that spoke had to have been Michelle. That couldn’t be right. Michelle hated crying for any reason. He forced his eyes open to see Michelle staring back at him, her face red and puffy from crying.

            “Though’ you ha’ed cryin?” Steve tried to speak, but his own voice wouldn’t work.

            That puzzled him, and Michelle suddenly laughing puzzled him.

            “You idiot,” she breathed as she buried her face in his chest. “You stupid, stupid idiot.”

            Well, that wasn’t fair. What had he done this time? Steve tried to wrack his brain for an answer that could have warranted Michelle to call him an idiot _this_ time. But Michelle was always calling him an idiot, so he wasn’t sure if he would get an answer. And, huh, this ceiling wasn’t his. And the bed wasn’t his either.

            Then, the sharp stab of pain in his side as he tried to shift brought back all those memories. One of the Demodogs must have gotten him in the side because he could feel the bandages there.

            “You stupid, stupid idiot,” Michelle breathed again.

            Steve sighed and leaned into her touch. “Where?”

            Michelle sniffed, lifting her head to look Steve in the eyes again. “Chief Hopper’s cabin.” She let out a quiet, yet hysterical, laugh. “You’ve been out for two days. We weren’t sure you would pull through.”

            The door opened, probably El’s room, and Steve saw Justin walk into the room, head low. Michelle let out another one of those laughs and Justin’s head snapped up. And a bright grin spread on Justin’s face as he raced forward and knelt by the bed.

            “I’m okay,” Steve smiled as Justin tried to choke out words. “Really.”

            Justin gripped Steve’s shoulder, shaking his head as he smiled. “You idiot.”

            Then Justin raced out of the room, shouting as he went. Then there were a whole bunch of people trying to get to him and talk to him. It was a bit overwhelming. Thankfully, Hopper and Joyce kicked everyone out, and Joyce let him sip some water.

            “Demodogs?” Steve asked once Joyce set the water aside.

            “It’s been taken care of sweetie,” Joyce gave a strained smile. The government is taking care of it.”

            Steve gave her a look.

            “El took care of it,” Hopper spoke up. “Found some idiot messing with things he shouldn’t have. Got himself killed. But Steve, there are several people missing, and as far as the government is concerned, you are one of those people.”

            “Oh,” Steve hummed. “What does that mean?”

            “It means were going to have some problems,” Hopper sighed. “Especially with your Demodog wound. They might want to study it. Which means they could take you away.”

            Like El. He would be there lab rat. Steve sighed and turned to face the door, not wanting to look at Joyce or Hopper. Gareth stood in the doorway, just visible through the cracks. And the look on his face held a promise. He wasn’t going to let them take Steve anywhere.

            Steve sighed again as he turned back to Hopper. “Let’s just get this over with.”

\-------------------------------

            “He’s a human being!” Mrs. Whittman screamed at the people. “Not some lab rat for you to poke and prod at.”

            “With all due respect, ma’am,” a man was saying. Steve didn’t really care who this man was. “He was attacked by an interdimensional monster. His body houses evidence of something. We need to figure out what that is.”

            “ _He_ is also right here,” Steve snapped. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

            “You will, Mr. Harrington,” the man turned to Steve. “You don’t have a choice.”

            “You’re right,” Gareth laughed as he stepped into the room. “He doesn’t have a choice, because he’s staying right here. And this is why.” In Gareth’s hand, he waved a floppy disk. “Afterall, I haven’t signed your little wavers yet. So I can use whatever information I want.”

            The floppy disk was checked, and the men from the government clearly didn’t like what they saw. The man who had been doing the speaking quickly broke the disk in front of them. And Gareth _laughed_.

            “You think that’s the only one,” Gareth breathed between laughs. “Oh, you idiots. There are twenty-one of those disks, all replicas of each other. A buddy of mine from out of state has them and if I don’t get in touch with him within the next three days, he gets to sell the information to the highest bidder. Only, if I could get this information, there is no way you’ll be able to find the disks. And I’m not one to crack. So let’s make a deal, alright, Doctor Brenner?”

            So this was Doctor Brenner. Steve thought he had died. He very much wished the man had stayed dead in that moment. Regardless, Gareth got what he wanted, and Steve stayed as Doctor Brenner left. Only to be suddenly arrested by several government officials.

            “Oh,” Gareth suddenly exclaimed. “My bad, those twenty-one disks I gave to my buddy outta state were just cheats for some things. The thirty-two disks copied with the information were already sold. _Michelle_ made sure of that.”

            Doctor Brenner screamed out at them, threats and other things, as he was dragged down the halls of the hospital.

            “You dog,” Steve grinned.

            Gareth grinned back, squeezing Steve’s shoulder. “Those kids grow on you.”

            “But how did you pull it off?” Hopper frowned. “It’s a complicated web of things and files. No one would just _believe_ that kids had powers. And if they did, wouldn’t they want the kids for themselves?”

            “No, you’re right,” Gareth nodded. “But Michelle will probably be a journalist someday. With Nancy and Jonathan’s help with the information. And Christopher using his weird computer skills with Mr. Clarke to actually find the right files and information, all we really had to say was “government secretly kidnaps children and turns them into lab rats for future war efforts” and then organize the correct documents. Pretty simple.”

            It seemed pretty surreal, but they all laughed about it as if it were the funniest joke in the world. The others came shortly after, and El was in Steve’s lap, careful of his side. She was beaming brightly as if the whole world had been handed to her. And in a way, it had.

            “You’re not going to die on us, right Steve?” Christopher suddenly blurted out.

            And, oh, everyone had suddenly gone stiff. They had all been thinking it. All been dying to ask him how he was doing. So Steve grinned at them.

            “I’m fine,” Steve promised. “Takes more than a Demodog to kill me.”

            And there was relief on everyone’s faces. As if hearing it from Steve was better than hearing it from doctors. Which didn’t really make sense because doctors knew better. But they had also had a pretty bad history with doctors, so Steve couldn’t blame them.

            El fell asleep on his chest that night, and Avery slept against his good side. The others were scattered in odd positions about the room. None would leave his side, and Steve was grateful for that. He wasn’t sure he could sleep alone that night.

            “In my dreams I watch you die,” Avery whispered into the silence. “Over and over again. And not always the same way.”

            Steve had been attacked eight days ago, meaning he had only woken up six days ago. So Avery had been dreaming about him dying every night since then. He turned his head to her, trying not to disturb El. Her back was to him, so he couldn’t see her face. But he heard her sobs.

            “You keep dying,” Avery breathed. “And I can’t help you. It was my fault you were attacked because I said I hadn’t cut my wrists, but I had. There was still dried blood on the cuts. You nearly died because of me.”

            Steve pressed her face against the back of her neck. “I’d do it again,” he breathed into her neck, causing her to shiver. “Over and over again. Because I care about you.”

            Avery turned, locking eyes with Steve. “I wish you wouldn’t. I’m not worth it.”

            And this time, he reached his head up to kiss her forehead. “You are worth more than you know. None of us want you gone, Avery. We want you to stay. Here. With us. Because you are our friend. Our family.”

            “I’m sorry,” she breathed. “I’m so sorry.”

            “No,” Steve smiled as he shook his head. “No, Avery. No.”

            He didn’t need to say much else. And as the two fell asleep again, foreheads pressed together, El couldn’t help but smile at them. She’d heard the whole thing. And it made her smile. They had a pretty great family.

\-----------------------------

            There would be days when Dustin would just burry his face into Steve’s side and just sob. There would be days when Mike would stare at Steve as if he hadn’t expected to see him there. There would be days when Max would just hold his hand for hours, no matter what they were doing. There would be days when Lucas would just follow Steve around, as if waiting. There would be days when Steve would have to carry Will on his back. There would be days when El would just watch him throughout his day with her blindfold on. There would be days Mrs. Whittman would have to get Steve excused for help because Nancy would be sobbing in her office. There would be days when Steve would have to follow Jonathan to the dark room and steady his hands. There would be days when Steve had to sleep on the couch at the Byers so Mrs. Byers could check up on him in the night. There would be days when Chief Hopper could be seen watching Steve from afar.

            This was, after all, the first time someone in their immediate monster hunting party had almost died. Sure, Will had nearly died the first time, but they also knew they could save him. There had been far too much doubt when it came to Steve in his injury.

            At least eight people were found dead. Three of them high school students, and one high school teacher. Steve had saved lives in the middle school by running in for the kids. Some idiot, having heard the rumors of Hawkins Lab, had taken some tech into the lab and accidently reopened the gate. Steve’s friends took to helping close the gate again, with the help of Mrs. Whittman and Mr. Clarke. There were still several people missing, and half the town thought the story of monsters was a joke. Karen thought both of her children were crazy. Max was having a hard time at home because no one believed her. Lucas’ parents had not seen the monsters, but they weren’t condemning their son’s behavior. Dustin mother, the amazing women she turned out to be, was defending her son’s claim. Even if she hadn’t seen the creature.

            Which was why this meeting was being held. They were at the police station as Hopper broke down what had happened. Joyce was off to the side, beside Hopper, watching the kids warily. Jonathan and Nancy were waiting outside, unable to hear all this again. The kids were watching their parents. And Steve was in a corner. The original monster hunting party had gathered to share their “traumas” with their families. And it wasn’t easy.

            “And you just expect us to believe this?” Mr. Hargrove growled.

            “With all do respect, Mr. Hargrove,” Hopper growled. “Whether or not this was real or not, your children have been traumatized. Whether it was by gas, active imagination to make up for what really happened, or whether it did happen, your children _need_ you to understand.”

            “She needs to grow up is what she needs to do,” Mr. Hargrove screamed, and Max flinched into Lucas.

            Then there was an odd thud and squishing sound as a dead Demodog was tossed into the room. And Justin quickly tossed the second one he was holding onto the floor. The kids screamed, and moved towards Steve, both protectively and looking for protection.

            “Seems pretty real to me,” Victoria kicked one of the Demodogs at Mr. Hargrove as she entered the room behind Justin.

            “It’s fake,” Mr. Hargrove protested. “Some ploy you came up with to excuse our children’s behavior.”

            Victoria cut off that argument by kicking the Demodog into Victoria’s lap. There was a very terrified scream as Mr. Hargrove tried to get away from the thing, and the other parents scampered away. Justin had picked up the second Demodog again, his hands gloved, Steve realized, and placed the thing on a table with a cloth.

            Christopher walked in with Michelle, the former holding a scalpel, and the latter holding several tools.

            “Let’s just see how fake this is,” Victoria grinned back at the panicked Neil Hargrove.

            “We never did sign those wavers,” Justin was grinning down at Steve as Christopher and Michelle began their work. “Don’t worry, we already swept the place. Mrs. Whittman knows a lot more than anyone gives her credit for.”

            The kids watched in awe as Christopher and Michelle tore the Demodog apart, revealing its inner workings. Finding weaknesses in its skin. Steve now knew where to hit the things if they ever came back. And by this point, there was no doubt in Steve’s mind that these things wouldn’t come back.

            Gareth and Avery revealed to be outside with Nancy and Jonathan. As the two lived with Steve, they often saw the couple the most of Steve’s friend group, so Steve was glad they were attempting to confront the two. Well, Avery was comforting. Gareth was just being obnoxious and trying to get them to smile at a banter. It seemed to be working.

            Gareth took one look at Neil Hargrove as they all piled out and threatened the man within an inch of his life. When Steve asked about it, neither he, nor Chief Hopper, liked the answer.

            “I know a jerk like my old man when I see one,” he spat. “You better keep an eye on him Chief. Cause if he hurts Max, and you don’t find a way to arrest him, I’m going to kill him.”

            There was no doubt in Steve’s mind that Gareth would do just that. He’d probably help if it came down to that.

            “Bad man,” El hissed at Mr. Hargrove’s back.

            “Yeah,” Steve nodded. “Very bad man.”

            Hopper clearly had his work cut out for him. Poor guy just couldn’t catch a break recently now could he. The seven friends ended up at Steve’s house basking in each other’s presence.

            There were most nights where, Steve’s six friends would sleep at his side, always to assure themselves that Steve was okay. Steve couldn’t blame them and leaned into the comfort of his friends.

\-------------------------------------

            Steve wasn’t sure what to make of this situation. They were at Benny’s the five friends, working on a project. Well, Steve, Justin, and Avery were working on an English project. The other four were laughing and throwing French fries about. Of course, they had been kicked to another table so as not to ruin the English papers. But it was also a bit late at night, which was why they weren’t working on the project at school or the library, and not many people were still at Benny’s. In fact, the place had mostly just been the staff and the seven friends. Until two people walked in.

            “Steven?” a voice called, startled.

            Steve, honestly, did not recognize the voice. So when he turned around, it was to chastise whoever had decided to call him Steven. No one had called him Steven since he was an infant, and he wasn’t fond of the name at all. He hardly recognized the two faces either, and it took him a moment to recognize the similar features between the two people and himself. He had only seen the two before, really, in pictures through his house. And the couple looked a bit older than the pictures.

            “Can I help you?” Steve asked, still trying to process what he was seeing.

            “Come now, Steven,” the woman let out a nervous chuckle. “This is foolish. Just come here.”

            “Why?” Steve questioned in confusion.

            “Listen, Lady,” Justin stood up. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you seriously need to back off. My friend’s been through enough. He doesn’t need some weird people walking up to him and demanding he come with them.”

            “Is there a problem here, Steve?” Gareth sauntered up to them.

            “Honestly, Steven,” the man snapped. “Quit this nonsense.”

            “I have absolutely no idea who either of you are,” Steve confessed, still eyeing the two warily. “Are you with the government or Hawkins Lab? Because we already took care of that problem and I’d prefer to leave it alone.”

            The woman seemed stricken and the man just grew angry. Before anyone could process what was happening, Steve was yanked up by his shirt collar and slammed against the booth. He hissed at the pain, wondering if people would ever stop beating him up. He determined probably not.

            “You stupid child!” the man screamed at his face. “Do you think this is funny? Some sort of game? Now stop this foolishness because we are going home! Right now!”

            Steve still wasn’t sure who this person was, or what he thought home was, so Steve head butted the guy. Justin grabbed Steve as the man staggered back, and the seven ran out of Benny’s. They stopped not far from the Hawk, in the very place Jonathan had beaten him up. He deserved it then.

            “That guy was a creep,” Victoria shifted in her purse for some aspirin. “They both were.”

            “You sure you don’t know them?” Christopher asked, his brain working just as hard as Steve’s to identify them.

            Steve could only shrug. “They looked familiar,” he admitted. “But I couldn’t put a name to a face. Which is why I thought they might be from the government or Hawkins Lab. They’ve been filtering in and out of my life for some time, so I just assumed I had seen them there. But that doesn’t explain their reaction.”

            “Should we tell Hopper?” Justin asked as he handed Steve a water as Victoria handed over the pills.

            “Not a concussion,” Avery finally concluded as she pulled the flashlight away. “But your head is going to hurt for a bit. And there will be definite bruising on the back and front of your head.”

            “At least it isn’t a cut,” Steve grinned. “But, no, I don’t know. Let’s just keep an eye out.”

            “We may not have a choice,” Michelle pointed out. “I thought I saw the staff go for a phone. They probably called the police.”

            “Great,” Steve rolled his eyes. “Just what I needed.”

            They agreed to stay put until Hopper found them. Steve wasn’t sure what to make of what Hopper was telling him.

            “Wait, so those were my _parents_?” Steve questioned in horror. “Seriously?”

            “You really didn’t know?” Hopper questioned.

            Steve furiously shook his head. He’d never even seen his parents before, other than in pictures. And his parents had stopped calling him around the same time the staff quit getting paid. Steve had only known nannies and cleaners. He’d seen pictures, of course, but his parents looked so young. The last time Steve had even heard from his parents was in 1983 when his father berated him about his partying and letting a girl go missing.

            “I don’t understand,” Steve admitted. “What are they _doing_ here?”

            Hopper almost looked like he had been punched in the face. In fact, all of his friends seemed to suddenly be in some sort of pain he couldn’t explain. The seven followed Hopper back to the station, and Steve eyed the two strangers with an odd curiosity. Then Hopper was getting Steve to answer several personal questions and Flo, the secretary, was giving him hot chocolate as if he had been hurt in some way. Steve was still confused.

            “And the staff just left when you were eleven?” Hopper kept pressing.

            “They said they hadn’t been paid,” Steve shrugged. “So I just learned to do everything myself. Hopper, seriously, what’s wrong?”

            Hopper shook his head. “And your parents didn’t call at all?”

            This was annoying, but Steve kept answering the questions. The blanket was a bit too much as it was suddenly draped over him and Steve put the cup down. He couldn’t figure out why he was being treated as a trauma victim. It didn’t make any sense to him. He’d been alone for a long time, why was this so hard to believe?

            “Did I do something wrong?” Steve finally asked.

            And then Hopper was _hugging_ him. Hopper never just hugged anyone. Sure, Steve wasn’t going to turn away the hug because he rarely got them. Hugs felt nice, okay. But it was odd that Hopper was suddenly hugging him as if he would fall through the floor.

            “No, Steve,” Hopper whispered into his ear, sounding upset. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

            His parents, who Steve had been eyeing through the questioning, were then dragged to Hopper’s office. There was muffled shouting off and on, but Steve was just confused.

            “Why didn’t you tell us your parents were never there?” Christopher asked.

            Steve stared at them incredulously. “It was never important.”

            Gareth chucked a stapler across the room and marched out in anger. Then Avery and Victoria were hugging him, and Michelle was kicking a trash can across the room, and Christopher was sinking into a chair, and Justin was racing after Gareth. Steve was just confused.

            Joyce, Will, Jonathan, and El showed up later, and Flo took them aside for a few minutes. Then both Will and El were barreling over to Steve, tackling in a hug, and Steve just couldn’t understand what was going on. Then he was leaning into Joyce’s gentle embrace, not sure what was going on.

            “It was wrong for them to leave you like that,” Joyce spoke softly, running her hand through Steve’s hair. “You didn’t deserve that, Steve. Do you hear me? You didn’t deserve to be left without the love of your parents. You deserve so much love.”

            “But I did get that love,” Steve stated, pulling away from Joyce. “It took a while, but I got it from you and Hopper.”

            Joyce opened and closed her mouth, and there were fresh tears forming her eyes. And then he was pulled into Joyce’s embrace again. Steve couldn’t understand why anyone had pitied him. Sure, his childhood wasn’t all that great, and he didn’t really know his birth parents. But he had two great parents already that came into his life. He was content with his life and the love he was receiving. His birth parents didn’t really matter.

            He got to talk to his birth parents later, the next morning, where no one had gotten any sleep.

            “Honestly,” his father grumbled. “We come back to make sure you are ready for a job and this is how you treat us?”

            “I’m sorry, what?” Steve laughed. “What? You thought you could just waltz back into my life after you were _never_ there, and then offer me a job, and what, just expect everything to be okay? No. I’m sorry. Because until last night, I had no idea what either of you looked like. So I’m sorry if I’m not what you expected. But you aren’t just going to get some welcome wagon.”

            “Steven-” his mother tried.

            “I’m pretty sure my name is Steve,” he pointed out, glaring at them both now. “I did, in fact, find the birth certificate. It says Steve. I’m not sure where this _Steven_ is coming from.”

            “John!” his mother admonished. “We agreed his name would be Steven!”

            “I wrote Steven,” his father growled.

            “Did you?” Steve questioned. “Because I also found your letters that you left in your office. They don’t match your handwriting. Or, oh wait. You weren’t going to tell mom you’ve been cheating on her were you. Because the hand writing was clearly a woman’s handwriting, and I compared it to a letter from mom. It didn’t match. But Helena’s handwriting certainly did. She writes quite the steamy love notes.”

            Hopper, who had been sitting there the entire time, just sort of gaped at Steve. Then he was getting both himself and Steve out of there as the couple began to argue.

            “Was any of that true?” Hopper asked.

            “Every word,” Steve grinned. “Some other woman wrote my birth certificate. Butchered my name, apparently, and dad had the guts to leave letters of their sex life in his office.”

            Hopper looked positively scandalized. They ended heading to the Byers after that, leaving the Harrington’s to continue fighting and the next wave of people to deal with it. They then dragged all the mattresses into the living room. It was a mesh of two adults, eight teens, and two almost teens as they all slept.

            Dustin showed up at some point, waking them up, but he soon cuddled up with them they fell back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't know if anyone else has noticed, and nothing against these people, but like 98% of the Steve Harrington tag is Harringrove. Don't get me wrong, you people can ship what you want, but it would be nice to see more stories with Steve and his kids rather than Steve and Billy. Just cause there are a lot of those already. I dunno. Steve needs friends guys. 
> 
> I dunno how you do a challenge, but I'm going to challenge people who read this to write a story that isn't Harringrove just to prove that it can be done!!! 
> 
> Again, no offense to those who write Harringrove, but when a ship dominates a tag, it just becomes very hard to find stories that are different from the others. Ya know. And Steve has six kids, and there are like maybe six stories (not my own) that focus on Steve with his kids. But you do you guys.


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